The practice of flavoring and preserving food by smoking is a well-known and often-performed process. Several methods and devices have been utilized over the years in accomplishing this task. Known prior art includes U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,967,023, T. T. Huckabee; 4,140,049, William G. Stewart; 4,190,677, John S. Robins; 4,374,489, Jack Robbins; and U.S. Pat. No. Des. 283,588, Charles W. Stuckey.
Huckabee, '023, differing from the teaching of the device of the present invention, teaches the practice of cooking the food to the degree desired before beginning the smoking process.
The patent granted to Stewart, '049, pertains to a method and apparatus for modifying an existing cooker so as to introduce extra moisture to reduce or eliminate drying.
The '677 patent granted to John Robins teaches the use of a bed of wood flour, which apparently must be obtained by the user, specified as being finely ground to a particular mesh, placed on a tray or similar mechanism, further specified as being out of direct contact with the heat producing fuel, and ignited. In contrast, the device of the present invention is specified as being placed in contact with the fuel and carefully kept from ignition, in addition to the novelty of being supplied in a special container, ready to drop in and use.
The food smoking adapter of Jack Robbins, '489, is a specially constructed device attachable to certain cooking grills only, and requires a source of electrical power to heat the smoke producing material.
The Design Patent assigned to Stuckey is simply an ornamental design for another holder of wood chips used in smoking food.
Thus, it can be seen that there is a need for a device which supplies pre-packaged food smoking material in a clean, ready-to-use, convenient, and easily disposed-of format.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a device for generating smoke for flavoring various foodstuffs.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such a foodsmoking device to be of a small size and light in weight for ease and convenience of handling and use.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide such a foodsmoking device in a long, thin format and composed of thin walls of highly heat-conductive material so as to cause quick-starting, efficient charring of the smoke-producing organic material contained therein.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide such a foodsmoking device in a clean, ready-to-use package which can be placed directly on the heat-producing material of the grill while not interfering with the normal operation of the various types of grills; such a device being easy to use and easy to dispose of after use, serving to contain not only the foodsmoking material fragments prior to use, but also the charred ashes remaining after use.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide such a foodsmoking device in a variety of formats; i.e., the specific type of organic material contained in a particular device cartridge. Thus, some cartridges constructed in accordance with various features of the present invention would contain Hickory chips, some would contain Mesquite chips, etc., for instance, so as to provide a choice of flavoring material to the user.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide such a foodsmoking device in a format which permits the packaging of multiple units of the device in a convenient carrier, i.e., "six-packs," or "eight-packs," for instance.
These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which: